Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 2026)

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

18402 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 31 ), 76

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

From This Moment On

April

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 04: Jake Leg Jug Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Anthropology. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free Quintet + guest Neil Brodie (trumpet).
Sun 05: Mark Williams & Tom Remon @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Jazzmain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Zoë Gilby & Johnny Hunter @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Friday, March 29, 2024

Album review: Hannah Horton - Live in Soho

Hannah Horton (tenor/baritone sax); Tim Lapthorn (piano); Rob Statham (electric bass); Nic France (drums).

I must confess this one initially had me confused. Five of the eight tunes were on the saxophonist's previous album Inside Out reviewed HERE in 2021. That studio album had John Crawford on piano, replaced here by Tim Lapthorn, with drums and bass as previous. 

I haven't got the earlier album to hand (I must devise a filing system)* to enable me to compare the studio versions with these live ones recorded in January 2023 at Pizza Express but, going by my review, they must have been excellent whilst these tracks are super-excellent and, being live, extended which is a big plus and, going by the applause, the audience agreed.

Whether blowing tenor or baritone Horton gets a big, walkin' the bar, sound that transcends boundaries with a technique that allows her fingers to trip the light fantastic over the keys of the saxes. From the bottom note of the bari to the top notes of the tenor and beyond they dazzle. Not just technique for technique's sake but meaningful phrases that add significantly to the material even, as she did on Inside Out, making a silk purse out of that musical sow's ear Feed the Birds. 

Of the three tunes new to this album, Gil Evans' Las Vegas Tango has Horton beginning in an explorative, out of tempo, mood before a fiery bari burst which, after Lapthorn's piano solo, mellows out to a gentle and effective vanishing finale.

Chick Corea's Sea Journey features Statham, who, after the calm, sets Horton up for a turbulent tenor solo that does Chick proud.

The third number that doesn't appear on the studio session is her composition Forget Me Not when, once again, she lets the world know that when it comes to baritone sax playing Hannah Horton is very much a name to reckon with.
*Now I'm going to look for Inside Out - one complements the other. No I'm not! You can listen to some of it HERE. Lance

Release date for Live in Soho is April 29.

Feed the Birds; Surfing Thermals; Las Vegas Tango; Keep Walking; Escape; Sea Journey; Forget me Not; Horn Dance

at

No comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive